Trump defends Putin, says the United States has ‘got a lot of killers’

“We consider the words of the Fox News host unacceptable and insulting”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly described Putin as “a killer” in the interview with Trump as he tried to press the USA president to explain more fully why he respected his Russian counterpart.

Trump’s respect for Putin was a familiar trope during presidential election which the major United States intelligence agencies believe Russian intelligence sought to influence on Trump’s behalf.

“John, listen, I’ve known the President for 15 years, and I know exactly what he meant by those comments”.

He said he wanted help from Russian Federation in the fight against “Islamic terrorism”. And as for Putin, “Will I get along with him?”

“So many critics of Donald Trump have said he’s unfiltered and he’s gonna get us into all kinds of disputes with foreign governments because he’s too blunt…”

Presenter Bill O’Reilly used the phrase as he tried to press the US President over his respect for his Russian counterpart.

“You all know that Russian Federation has good relations of partnership with Iran and we cooperate with that country on a number of issues”, Peskov added.

During a radio interview Sunday night, Trump defended his comments and said he didn’t see a need to clarify or explain them. “Putin’s a killer”, in an apparent reference to opponents of the Russian President who have been found dead and to military tactics deployed in Syria and Ukraine.

In a pre-taped interview with Fox News, Trump seemed to put the USA and Russian Federation on equal ground when it comes to killing. I honestly don’t get it, ‘ tweeted Michael McFaul. Our country’s so innocent?’ From his policies to his relationships, Donald Trump’s America is vastly different from the America we are used to. But during his response, O’Reilly pressed the president, declaring “Putin is a killer”.

“He believes that the leaders of countries deserve to get treated with respect“, Christie said. “I have no idea”.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described Mr Putin “as a former KGB agent [and] a thug”.

Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States after the controversy but Russia declined to do the same – a move Mr Trump praised as “very smart”.